IRE223: NATIONS IN CONFLICT
Spring 2020 Session 3 : Causes of War I
Maya Hadar, Ph.D.
"It is not worth while to try to keep history from repeating itself, for man's character
will always make the preventing of the repetitions impossible”
Mark Twain, Eruption: Hitherto Unpublished Pages About Men and Events, 1940
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On the Agenda for Today
 What is War?
 Biological & Psychological Causes of War
 Conflict Theory
 Conflict’s Perspective of Society
 Karl Marx & the Revolution
 Power and Conflict (Max, Weber)
What is War ?
War Is…
 ”A contest between nations or states (international war) or between parties in
the same state (civil war), carried on by force of arms for various purposes,
as to settle disputes about territorial possessions, to maintain rights that have
been interfered with, to resist oppression, to avenge injuries, to conquer
territory, to extend dominion, etc.; a conflict of arms between hostile parties
or nations; open hostility declared and engaged in”
Webster's Monarch Dictionary (Chicago, 1916)
What is War ?
Carl von Clausewitz =>
 Prussian general who fought during the Napoleonic wars
 Military theorist who analysed various aspects of war
 Most notable work => ‘Vom Kriege’ / ‘On War’
What is War ?
Carl von Clausewitz =>
 “Politics is the womb in which war develops”
 “To secure peace is to prepare for war”
 ”War is not an independent phenomenon, but the continuation of politics by
different means”
 ”War is not merely a political act but a real political instrument, a
continuation of political intercourse, a carrying out of the same by other
means”
What is War ?
War Is…
 The province of danger, and therefore courage above all things
is the first quality of the warrior
 The province of physical exertion, suffering, uncertainty & friction
 A social phenomenon and distinctly political
 Means => “Force . . . is the means of war; to impose our will on the enemy is its
object. To secure that object we must render the enemy powerless; and that, in
theory, is the true aim of warfare
What is War ?
Charachteristics of War =>
 The waging of armed conflict against an enemy
 A legal state, created by a declaration of war and ended by official
declaration during which the international rules of war apply
 Condition of open + declared, armed conflict carried on between political
units (e.g. states or nations), limited or general
 “Organized, socially sanctioned armed violence employed by opposing groups
against one another, normally for political, social or economic purposes”
What is War ?
Levels of War
 Strategic Level => Grand plan for fighting a war, it’s overall conduct
 The domain of high level civilian + military leaders
 Sets regions of operation, resources allocation, general plans of action (Where to
fight? + With what?)
 Operational Level => The fighting itself
 The domain of generals and admirals
 Campaigns (a series of maneuvers + battles over an extended period) are
planned and conducted (how to fight?)
The Nation-State System
 Organs of modern political consciousness
(public education + mass media) emerged in
the 19th century
 Globe-conquering ideology of unique
national identities => Nation states, an
illusion of homogeneity
Principal Properties =>
 States’ Sovereignty: Domestic Politics vs. IR
The Nation-State System
 Closed system
 The system in anarchical
 Instruments of National Power => Arsenal of means available for
employment in the pursuit of national objectives (Military, Diplomacy,
Economic)
 Conflicts between states can be resolved in numerous ways, when other
means fail, force is the final arbiter/mean of resolving differences
 Hence => The nation-state system is, in principle, a warfare system
What Causes War?
 Biological + Psychological explanations
 Marxism + Neo-Marxism
 Liberalist theories
 Realist theories
Why People Fight?
 https://www.youtube
.com/watch?v=2NIg
qS47m5k
Biological & Psychological Theories
 Since people create political systems that
interact in the global arena, human biological
and psychological characteristics affect the
form + functioning of IR
 Main explanation of the occurrence of war
 Human instincts
 Human passions
 Not directly related to political science + IR, but part of an Interdisciplinary
study of war
 Human aggressive behaviors stem from an aggressive instinct
Biological & Psychological Theories
Biological & Psychological Theories
Ancient theories
 St. Augustine, a Christian philosopher, early 5th century AD
 Main argument => Man’s desire to dominate causes wars
 Credited with the notion of the ‘Original Sin’
 According to Christian theology, human
beings inherited the sins of Adam
 The sinful nature gives rise to a ‘libido
dominandi’, a desire to dominate,
evident in the brutal way we treat others,
animals, etc.
 Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), considered as one
of the founders of modern political philosophy
 ‘The Leviathan’, (1651):
 “Man is wolf to man“, man can be a priori
regarded as aggressive & violent
 The primitive state of man/nature =>
"the war of all against all”, is dominated
by savage + cruel behavior (causes wars)
 Could only be avoided by strong,
absolute sovereign: the commonwealth
Biological & Psychological Theories
“Whatever the result of a war where
every man is enemy to every man,
also a result of a time when men live
without other security than what their
own strength and their own capacity to
invent their give…”
 ‘The Leviathan’, (1651):
 ‘The ideal commonwealth is ruled by
a sovereign power responsible for
protecting the security of the
commonwealth + granted absolute
authority to ensure common defence
=> "Leviathan”
 The text attempts to prove the
necessity of the Leviathan (through
social contract) for preserving peace
and preventing war
Biological & Psychological Theories
Biological & Psychological Theories
 Freud frequently described the aggressive
thoughts and feelings his patients reported to
him during their free associations
 1920’s => became so impressed with the crucial
role of human aggression that he radically
revised his whole theory
 Polarity of two governing passions: Sexuality + self‐preservation => the life
instinct (eros/libido: the urge to create) + the death/aggressive instinct
(Destrudo: the urge to destroy) the drive for destruction of oneself or of others
 Main argument: Humans are affected by impulses to destroy; aggression isn’t man’s
reaction to an outside stimulus, but a permanent force
 Theories concerning Innate human aggression as the
main cause of wars were especially popular in the
1960s
 Konrad Lorenz (1903-1989), Austrian zoologist, known
for his work on the roots of aggression
 Contributed to an understanding of how behavioral
patterns may be traced to an evolutionary past
 Followed Hobbes and argued that war cannot be avoided
since aggression is a human instinct
Biological & Psychological Theories
 In his book “On Aggression” he postulated a hypothesis similar to Freud's in its
results => Aggression is a force inherent in the human organism, yet different
in its theoretical premises:
 Like his animal ancestors, Man is motivated by a ’phylogenetically programed
spontaneously flowing spring of aggression’, situated in certain areas of the brain
 According to Lorenz’s ‘Drive Discharge’ model, the energy of the aggressive
instinct is accumulated in the body and looks for an opportunity to be released
(catharsis)
 The aggression plays an important role in preserving the species, establishing
social relationships, and contribute to the survival of the most able
Biological & Psychological Theories
 Lorenz, in his later works, refined his ideas:
 Even though aggression, in general, serves the survival of the species, this
instinct has become too strong in humans
 The modern man has few opportunities to vent the aggression instinct, thus
modern war, waged (in an extreme case, by means of weapons of mess
destruction) is no longer a tool serving the preservation of the species but a
threat to the survival of the species
 The development of modern science + technology resulted in a discrepancy
between people’s physical ability to kill and their instincts
 Extreme violence is rare even among chimpanzees
Biological & Psychological Theories
 Erich Fromm, 20th century German social psychologist
 Main argument => Human nature is basically good +
society is the cause of the evil and corruption produced
by man
 Two types of aggression exist- Benign and Destructive:
Biological & Psychological Theories
 Benign, defensive aggression: Shared with other animals, fight or flight in the
face of danger.
 Consists of accidental/playful/acts resulting from ego hurt, escape from reality,
a desire to conform/be free, or a need to attain a goal => Can be eliminated
by constructing a society in which no one is threatened
 Malignant/Destructive aggression: Exclusively human
 Consists of sadism + passionate desire for cruelty and
destruction. Has nothing to do with survival, but with
inflicting pain on others for pleasure, animosity
 Is the result of "exploitation and manipulation" => Can
be substantially eliminated when the existing
socioeconomic conditions are replaced by conditions
favourable to the development of man's genuine needs
Biological & Psychological Theories
 Fromm expressed optimism and hope that through social and political
upheavals + love and understanding of mankind man will survive & prosper
 Eibl Eibesfeldt (1928–2018), an Austrian
expert of human ethology
 Eibesfeldt integrated violence into the
process of cultural evolution =>
Aggression by which the group delineates
its territory contributes to the development of
the group identity
 A fear of foreigners is an important factor
enhancing intergroup aggression => War
as a mean to keep foreigners out
Biological & Psychological Theories
 The Seville Statement on Violence of 20 scientists
(1986), adopted by UNESCO (1989)
 Opposition to Lorenz’s fatalist approach
 “We conclude that biology does not condemn
humanity to war, and that humanity can be freed
from the bondage of biological pessimism” (Ginsburg
2005: 94-96)
 Main argument: The tendency to wage wars is NOT
part of human nature
 Peace is possible
Biological & Psychological Theories
 Bradley Thayer, contemporary scholar of IR
 Analyzed int. affairs through the lens of evolutionary theory
 Explains human & state behavior + generate insights into the
origins of human warfare and ethnic conflict (how did xenophobia
and ethnocentrism evolved in humans)
 Main argument => Evolutionary theory explains why the
instinctual tendency to protect one's tribe morphed over time
into group inclinations toward xenophobia and ethnocentrism
in IR
 These behaviors once contributed to our ancestors' success in
radically different environments, remain a part of us
Biological & Psychological Theories
To what extent is human war a unique characteristic in our world?
 Behaviors associated with war (coordination, a clear hierarchy, complex
maneuvers, strategies) were observed among species of ants + chimps
 Non-human primates use aggression to establish or challenge + defend
hierarchies within groups
 However, humans are the only species to participate in war in a non-instinctual
manner: we do not practice war simply because of a change in chemical signals
 We are the only species that plans and executes mass killing, while being
aware of what we're doing => Have a choice in the matter
Is war Unique to Humans?
Is war natural or instinctual?
 Aggression is clearly linked to the hypothalamus + testosterone => Yet, it
isn’t solely a product of internal/psychotic processes
 Aggression arise/elevates in response to confrontation (among individuals or
groups), intrusion, frustration in a kind of activity
 Significant relationship between environmental depletion/stimuli + warfare
 Need to understand aggression in a social context, rather than solely
biological
Is war Unique to Humans?
In conclusion =>
 War-like behaviors are not unique to Humans
 Human Biology + Psychology are contributing factors to the occurrence of
wars, however
Since wars are a minor form of political interaction between state, there
must be other variables (besides human nature), which theories of biological
& psychological factors are missing when explaining the occurrence of war
 The ‘evil human nature’ may be a necessary, but insufficient condition for the
existence of war
Biological & Psychological Theories
 Critical theorists see society as riddled with disagreement, inequality +
conflict
 Any apparent consensus in society is maintained by visible/hidden
coercion
 “Conflict theories…seek to explain how the unequal distribution of resources
leads to conflict between those who possess and control valuable resources, on
the one side, and those who seek to increase their share of these resources, on
the other…”
 Turner et al (1998)
The Conflict Perspective of Society
 A macro-level approach, most identified with the writings of
German philosopher and sociologist Karl Marx (1818–83)
 Society (+ social interactions) as a battlefield =>
competition for limited resources
Conflict Theory
 Marx + Friedrich Engels: The Communist Manifesto (1848)
 Communism is a political philosophy: individuals should
have equal rights to wealth
 Marxism is a way of understanding & analysing the
organisation and structure of society + a way of
understanding how societies develop
 Marxism =>
 The core of the Marxist theory is the concept of class
struggle
 Argued that class is the fundamental inequality in
society
Conflict Theory
 Society is made up of individuals in different social classes who must
compete for social, material, and political resources (food, housing,
employment, education, and leisure time)
 Marxism =>
 Some individuals and organizations can obtain and keep more
resources than others, and use their power and influence to
maintain social institutions
Conflict Theory
 Social institutions (government, education, and religion) reflect the competition in
the inherent social inequalities and help maintain the unequal social structure
 Historically, the oppressors were the wealthy owners of production means (the
bourgeoisie) and the oppressed were the working class (the proletariat)
 Marx argued that the ruling class always develops ideologies to justify and
legitimize their exploitation
 Marxism =>
 Coined the term ‘false consciousness’: workers’
acceptance of ideologies that ran counter to their
interests
 Argued that in time, false consciousness is replaced
with class consciousness => the recognition of a
common class condition and the development of a
common unity in opposition to capitalist exploitation
 Will set the stage for revolution
Conflict Theory
Conflict Theory
 Several theorists suggested variations/expansions of
this basic theme
 Ludwig Gumplowicz => Polish-Austrian sociologist
(1838–1909)
 Argued that war + conquest are the basis of
civilization
 Believed that cultural and ethnic conflicts led to
states being identified and defined by a dominant
group that had power over other groups
 Max Weber => Renowned German sociologist (1864-1920)
 Interested in social changes (and social conflict) induced by the
industrial revolution
Max Weber, Power & Conflict
 Viewed the various class divisions in society as normal, inevitable and acceptable
 Agreed with Marx, but also believed that social conflicts were also about power
and social prestige (not just about money/resources)
 Noted that different groups were affected differently based on education, race,
and gender
 Main argument: People’s reactions to inequality were moderated by class
differences, rates of social mobility and by perceptions about the legitimacy of
those in power
Next Session...37
 More Theories concerning the causes of war
 Realism, liberalism, etc.
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Thank You For Your Attention!
Questions???